Time to wrap up the road trip. Here's the final Map.
Some stats...
States/Provinces visited: 32 (29 US, 3 Canada)
National Parks visited: 15 (11 US, 4 Canada)
Miles driven: 14,048.9
Bears spotted: 2 (both in Shenandoah, go figure)
Traffic tickets: 0 (whooo!)
Most Common out-of-state License Plate: Florida (by a landslide, these people are everywhere!)
Easiest-to-find chain restaurant: Subway (even in towns without gas stations)
Cheapest gas: $3.099/gallon in southwestern Virginia
Most expensive gas: not really sure, something like $4.30/gallon along the West Coast and a few cities in the East
Gas Mileage (according to the car's number): 31.2 mpg
Most Northern/Southern Latitudes: 52.0 N (Kinbasket Lake, BC)/ 24.5 N (Key West, FL)
Most Western/Eastern Longitudes: 124.6 W (Rialto Beach, WA)/ 68.2 W (Bar Harbor, ME)
Great trip so far, bring on Ecuador!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Last Leg: Appalachia
After our stint in Florida, it was time to head north and make our way back toward Philadelphia where our plane leaves on the 5th. We drove up the west coast of Florida and into Georgia. After a brief stop for peach cider, pecan rolls, and mayhaw jelly, we drove to northern Georgia and the southernmost Appalachians. We stayed the night in Gainesville (there's one in Georgia too apparently).
The next morning we got to the mountains. We stopped briefly at Tallulah Gorge to check out the (supposedly) deepest gorge east of the Mississippi at around 900 ft. You couldn't really see the falls from where we were, and frankly the gorge looked rather quaint.
We drove into North Carolina and got to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. After some looking around a bit, we settled on a campground in Cherokee territory. It was mostly deserted and our site was on the end of the row next to a creek. Nice!
We went for a walk on the NC side of the park. The leaves were starting to turn, but it wasn't full-blown fall just yet except for the chilly air. Still very pretty. The next day we drove across to the Tennessee side and hiked to Ramsey Cascades. We had to drive through Gatlinburg, which was a total crazy town of tourists. Yikes! The trail was very nice and the falls were wet.
We really liked the Smokys, especially the NC side which had much less traffic and fewer folks on the trails. Cherokee land was lovely. On our way out of the park, we took the back way from the camp to the Blue Ridge Parkway--up a dirt road with switchbacks occasionally passing some houses and farms owned by the tribe. Very nice. It kind of felt like a farewell to our trusty Subaru, since it can't come with us to South America.
We took the parkway for 40 or 50 miles, then headed to Asheville. The city looked right up our alley, and we decided we should move there.
Just north of Asheville we dropped in to Fox Hill Meadery. Jason, the owner/meadmaker, met us at the door (the meadery is adjacent to their house) and opened several bottles for us. It was a great tasting and resulted in more than a few ideas for a future weekend meadery of our own. We came away with two bottles of spiced mead and a bottle each of berry, ginger/apricot, and reserve mead. Excellent stuff!
We drove north through the mountains and hit the I-81 corridor. We'd decided to just drive as far as we could and see where that got us. We wound up in Lexington, VA (there's apparently a Lexington in VA too). The next morning we took a short drive and detoured into Shenandoah National Park. We stopped at a lot of the overlooks and took a walk to a ruined mission. Good park, but we liked the Smokys better since the park encompassed more undeveloped areas.
After Shenandoah we got back to 81 and drove to PA, stopping in Lancaster again at Court & Elyse's. No more states to visit! Somehow we've reached the end of the road trip. We'll be in Havertown for a few days getting packed and prepping the car for our absence, and then we go to Quito. Wild.
The next morning we got to the mountains. We stopped briefly at Tallulah Gorge to check out the (supposedly) deepest gorge east of the Mississippi at around 900 ft. You couldn't really see the falls from where we were, and frankly the gorge looked rather quaint.
We took the parkway for 40 or 50 miles, then headed to Asheville. The city looked right up our alley, and we decided we should move there.
Just north of Asheville we dropped in to Fox Hill Meadery. Jason, the owner/meadmaker, met us at the door (the meadery is adjacent to their house) and opened several bottles for us. It was a great tasting and resulted in more than a few ideas for a future weekend meadery of our own. We came away with two bottles of spiced mead and a bottle each of berry, ginger/apricot, and reserve mead. Excellent stuff!
We drove north through the mountains and hit the I-81 corridor. We'd decided to just drive as far as we could and see where that got us. We wound up in Lexington, VA (there's apparently a Lexington in VA too). The next morning we took a short drive and detoured into Shenandoah National Park. We stopped at a lot of the overlooks and took a walk to a ruined mission. Good park, but we liked the Smokys better since the park encompassed more undeveloped areas.
After Shenandoah we got back to 81 and drove to PA, stopping in Lancaster again at Court & Elyse's. No more states to visit! Somehow we've reached the end of the road trip. We'll be in Havertown for a few days getting packed and prepping the car for our absence, and then we go to Quito. Wild.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Florida: Keys and Sarasota
After our night outside Charleston, we had a giant driving day to get down to Key Largo. Florida is a really long state.
In the Keys Hilary did some diving, including a trip to Spiegel Grove. We drove down to Key West for a quick look at the old houses and a stop at the southernmost point in the continental US. On the way we made a short detour to see the Key Deer. They're so cute! The bucks were a few feet tall and the does were maybe half that size.
We also met up with Marc at Alabama Jack's on the Card Sound causeway for lunch. The restaurant was half shack, half deck hanging out over the swamp. Perfect! We were treated to an awesome thunderstorm which shook the building and set off car alarms. Marc sent us off with several bottles of mead and starfruit cider. Yum!
Did lots of eating in the Keys. Had smoked fish paste a couple times, very good. Conch fritters, peel and eat shrimp, seafood scampi with fresh hogfish. We love fish. We happened to be in the Keys for our 5th anniversary, and we got Key Lime pie to celebrate. We also hit a few driving milestones while here: 12,000 total trip miles and 20,000 total vehicle miles. We drive too much.
The Keys were nice, but really you need a boat to enjoy yourself. We didn't see if the Outback would float sufficiently. We drove out of the Keys and into the Everglades. We stopped here and there to wander on a few paths and boardwalks in both the Everglades and Big Cypress; we'll have to come back some time with more money and take an airboat and rent bikes. Didn't see any alligators. Got to Sarasota to hang out with Emily.
We went out with Emily on the fishing boat. Hilary of course sucks at catching fish, though she did wind up hooking a puffer fish and several snake fish before hiding from the sun. Too bad you can't eat those. Aaron got 4 keepers: two each silver groupers and grunts. Lots of red groupers were caught (by Aaron), but none reached the 20" required to keep. Emily was a fish catching machine, getting her first keeper about 30 seconds after starting and catching the only keeper red grouper of the day. We ate a previous day's catch in a chowder for dinner. Yum fish!
In the Keys Hilary did some diving, including a trip to Spiegel Grove. We drove down to Key West for a quick look at the old houses and a stop at the southernmost point in the continental US. On the way we made a short detour to see the Key Deer. They're so cute! The bucks were a few feet tall and the does were maybe half that size.
We also met up with Marc at Alabama Jack's on the Card Sound causeway for lunch. The restaurant was half shack, half deck hanging out over the swamp. Perfect! We were treated to an awesome thunderstorm which shook the building and set off car alarms. Marc sent us off with several bottles of mead and starfruit cider. Yum!
Did lots of eating in the Keys. Had smoked fish paste a couple times, very good. Conch fritters, peel and eat shrimp, seafood scampi with fresh hogfish. We love fish. We happened to be in the Keys for our 5th anniversary, and we got Key Lime pie to celebrate. We also hit a few driving milestones while here: 12,000 total trip miles and 20,000 total vehicle miles. We drive too much.
The Keys were nice, but really you need a boat to enjoy yourself. We didn't see if the Outback would float sufficiently. We drove out of the Keys and into the Everglades. We stopped here and there to wander on a few paths and boardwalks in both the Everglades and Big Cypress; we'll have to come back some time with more money and take an airboat and rent bikes. Didn't see any alligators. Got to Sarasota to hang out with Emily.
We went out with Emily on the fishing boat. Hilary of course sucks at catching fish, though she did wind up hooking a puffer fish and several snake fish before hiding from the sun. Too bad you can't eat those. Aaron got 4 keepers: two each silver groupers and grunts. Lots of red groupers were caught (by Aaron), but none reached the 20" required to keep. Emily was a fish catching machine, getting her first keeper about 30 seconds after starting and catching the only keeper red grouper of the day. We ate a previous day's catch in a chowder for dinner. Yum fish!
Carolinas
We had planned to visit the Great Dismal Swamp on our way down to the Carolinas. The goal was to find RoUSs. Unfortunately some lightning strikes had about 90% of the reserve on fire, the deer hunt was canceled, and all the trails were closed. So much for that idea. We drove straight for Raleigh instead.
In Raleigh we met Rebecca for dinner at a neat local pizza place. After dinner we drove just outside Raleigh to Umpstead park, which was actually a really nice park. It was adjacent to the airport, but planes are a lot less annoying than trains and they don't run for several hours in the middle of the night.
We left Raleigh and drove across the Carolinas. We saw Philip Morris and tobacco fields, and the south's answer to Wall Drug: South of the Border. We didn't stop, but it looked like Wall Drug on crack. No jackelopes there though. We got to Charleston around 5pm, parked near the Battery, and walked around for a bit. We immediately saw dolphins in the harbor, got a view of Fort Sumter, and the sprawling live oaks. Nice trees. The houses were great; they all had big porches facing away from the street with a door leading out. Porches had lots of comfy furniture and ceiling fans. Obviously folks spend a lot of time hanging out there. Charleston was really walkable and lots of folks were riding bikes. Not sure how they navigated the old brick and cobblestone streets though, the tree roots made those roads rather bumpy. We decided we liked it there and should move there.
In Raleigh we met Rebecca for dinner at a neat local pizza place. After dinner we drove just outside Raleigh to Umpstead park, which was actually a really nice park. It was adjacent to the airport, but planes are a lot less annoying than trains and they don't run for several hours in the middle of the night.
We left Raleigh and drove across the Carolinas. We saw Philip Morris and tobacco fields, and the south's answer to Wall Drug: South of the Border. We didn't stop, but it looked like Wall Drug on crack. No jackelopes there though. We got to Charleston around 5pm, parked near the Battery, and walked around for a bit. We immediately saw dolphins in the harbor, got a view of Fort Sumter, and the sprawling live oaks. Nice trees. The houses were great; they all had big porches facing away from the street with a door leading out. Porches had lots of comfy furniture and ceiling fans. Obviously folks spend a lot of time hanging out there. Charleston was really walkable and lots of folks were riding bikes. Not sure how they navigated the old brick and cobblestone streets though, the tree roots made those roads rather bumpy. We decided we liked it there and should move there.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Washington DC Area
Wednesday I went down to Delaware to see Matt & Nicole. First time in Delaware! Holy crap is there a lot of insane traffic between Philadelphia and Wilmington. Had a good time there, though later I found that my feet had been feasted on by all manner of small insects. Itchy.
Thursday we drove into Delaware again, this time to visit Dogfish Head. We barely made the tour at 11; had to run back to the car to get our close-toed shoes. Delaware must have some really strict OSHA laws because we've walked around breweries that were a lot more cramped, wet, and dark than Dogfish wearing only sandals. Ah well. So-so tour, we stood way too long in the room with the kettles where it was just a bit hot and humid. Only 4 beers on tap there too, so we decided to drive to Rehoboth to the brewpub after our tasting was finished. Excellent decision, they had all sorts of cool stuff on tap there. The Midas Touchstone (Midas Touch with added cherries and sourness, on cask) was great! Unfortunately everything exciting was not available in bottles, ever, so we missed out on bringing some with us.
After a quick stop at the beach and some unsuccessful searching for local crab, we crossed the Chesapeake and got to experience DC traffic during rush hour. Good times. We got away with only traveling on the SE quadrant of the beltway and got ourselves to Brandon's in Springfield only a few hours late. Got some Ethiopian food, mmm.
Friday we took the Metro into DC to meet Brandon for lunch and a short walk near where he was working that week. Saw the White House, and more importantly the official state bee hive. After lunch we walked around with Steff and saw some monuments, including the missing reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. At least the Washington monument wasn't covered with scaffolding yet; apparently it's got a nice crack in it after the recent earthquake. We stopped in the Natural History Museum, then the Holocaust Museum. After museums we walked to Cedar, a local restaurant/bar to meet Rachel. The bartender was super friendly and we ended up staying there pretty late and drinking a couple bottles of wine and uncounted cosmos. Luckily Brandon stopped drinking early and was able to drive us home.
Saturday was a day of "rest". Got some awesome pizza for late lunch, then Rachel came over and we had an evening of old-school games like TechmoBowl, Contra, and Dr Mario. For the record, the Packers beat the Bears 3-2. (We suck at TechmoBowl, though I think I was even worse as a kid.) Sunday we had a low-key morning and lunch at Brandon's favorite American place, then set out for North Carolina. Fun times in DC!
Thursday we drove into Delaware again, this time to visit Dogfish Head. We barely made the tour at 11; had to run back to the car to get our close-toed shoes. Delaware must have some really strict OSHA laws because we've walked around breweries that were a lot more cramped, wet, and dark than Dogfish wearing only sandals. Ah well. So-so tour, we stood way too long in the room with the kettles where it was just a bit hot and humid. Only 4 beers on tap there too, so we decided to drive to Rehoboth to the brewpub after our tasting was finished. Excellent decision, they had all sorts of cool stuff on tap there. The Midas Touchstone (Midas Touch with added cherries and sourness, on cask) was great! Unfortunately everything exciting was not available in bottles, ever, so we missed out on bringing some with us.
After a quick stop at the beach and some unsuccessful searching for local crab, we crossed the Chesapeake and got to experience DC traffic during rush hour. Good times. We got away with only traveling on the SE quadrant of the beltway and got ourselves to Brandon's in Springfield only a few hours late. Got some Ethiopian food, mmm.
Friday we took the Metro into DC to meet Brandon for lunch and a short walk near where he was working that week. Saw the White House, and more importantly the official state bee hive. After lunch we walked around with Steff and saw some monuments, including the missing reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. At least the Washington monument wasn't covered with scaffolding yet; apparently it's got a nice crack in it after the recent earthquake. We stopped in the Natural History Museum, then the Holocaust Museum. After museums we walked to Cedar, a local restaurant/bar to meet Rachel. The bartender was super friendly and we ended up staying there pretty late and drinking a couple bottles of wine and uncounted cosmos. Luckily Brandon stopped drinking early and was able to drive us home.
Saturday was a day of "rest". Got some awesome pizza for late lunch, then Rachel came over and we had an evening of old-school games like TechmoBowl, Contra, and Dr Mario. For the record, the Packers beat the Bears 3-2. (We suck at TechmoBowl, though I think I was even worse as a kid.) Sunday we had a low-key morning and lunch at Brandon's favorite American place, then set out for North Carolina. Fun times in DC!
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